A liquid crystal display device commonly includes, in addition to a liquid crystal panel and a backlight (hereafter, also referred to as a BL), an optical element such as polarizing plates and retardation films. Liquid crystal display devices are widely used for electronic devices, such as monitors, projectors, mobile phones, and personal digital assistants (PDA) because of their excellent display properties. The use of light condensing elements is a known technique for controlling the viewing angle of a display such as liquid crystal display devices.
Specifically, a disclosed liquid crystal display device includes at least a first polarizer, a liquid crystal cell including a liquid crystal layer between a first substrate and a second substrate, an optical compensation element, a second polarizer, and a light collection backlight in the stated order from the view side (see Patent Literature 1).
Also disclosed are a light condensing sheet including an absorptive linear polarizing layer, a negative birefringent layer, and a reflective linear polarizing layer, and a light control film including a sandwich structure including a birefringent film between polarizing films (see Patent Literatures 2 and 3).